An ocean of ice-Advances in the estimation of past sea ice in the Southern Ocean

L. K. Armand*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The estimation of past sea-ice cover has been improved recently by advances in diatom ecology, biogeography, and taxonomy and in the satellite imagery of sea ice. Diatoms live in and around sea ice, are sensitive to sea ice, and are widely distributed as microfossils in Southern Ocean sediments; thus, they provide the best tool available for reconstructing sea-ice cover and oceanographic features in Antarctic regions. New approaches use diatoms to reconstruct sea ice through the late Quaternary from core sites in the Southern Ocean. The sea-ice records provide evidence of increased sea ice at the Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 yr ago) and changing sea-ice cover through the past 190 k.y. Results from such sea-ice estimations may be useful to general circulation and energy balance models that require sea-ice parameters to predict future climate change.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-7
Number of pages7
JournalGSA Today
Volume10
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2000
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An ocean of ice-Advances in the estimation of past sea ice in the Southern Ocean'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this